Fire Emblem: Serene Radiance
by Strategist14
Summary: Sequel to Radiant Dawn, about a year and a half in the future. First fic, so don't be too brutal.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own any of the drivel you're about to read. Actually, several of the characters here are OCs, because I don't want to mangle any of these characters too brutally, and all the bad guys are dead. Character development, sure, but I'm not planning to turn Brom into some omnicidal maniac, or make Volke do charity work. You have been warned. Go nuts.

As a side note, this is the prologue, so chapters are obviously going to get longer, starting with the next one. I just wanted to put this out here, get some publicity while I get to work on the main part.

* * *

**PROLOGUE**

Eight people, all clothed in little more than ragged scraps, arrived at the shores of Crimea in the early morning, before most had awoken. As such, it was no surprise when they were stopped by a young woman holding a torch.

"May I ask what you're doing?" She asked softly. A horse whinnied from somewhere behind her.

One of them glanced at the others, then chuckled.

"But of course! Astrid, is it not?"

"I'm Astrid, yes. Of the Royal Crimean Knights."

"Of course. My name is Taureneo. These are Soren, Mia, Rolf, Zihark, Gatrie, Boyd, and Volke." He gestured to his companions one by one. "May we speak with Queen Elincia?"

"Taureneo? The Steadfast Rider of Daien?" She nodded, then extinguished her torch in the dirt and vaulted over her horse. "Very well, then I will take you to Queen Elincia. Erm... Sir Makalov?"

"Huh?" Somebody grunted from the shadows.

"Sir Makalov, we need to deliver these travelers to Queen Elincia."

"You go. I'll stand guard."

"I... I suppose." Astrid patted her mount, and it snorted, then began trotting off, closely followed by seven travelers. After a moment, one of them frowned, then glanced back at the eighth.

"You coming, Volke?"

"One thousand."

He scowled. "Fine. Go back to wherever you live."

Rolf didn't understand Volke. Was he in debt to somebody, or just greedier than Oliver, the fat pig who tried to keep Rafiel as a pet? He sighed, then squinted, trying to figure out where the others had gone.

"It's very early..." Astrid said after about a half hour of travel, her mount moving in a slow canter. "I don't think Queen Elincia will be awake yet. Is this very terribly urgent?"

Taureneo shook his head. "We've been gone years. A few hours can't hurt."

"I'm sure Geoffrey won't mind if I let you rest in the... erm..."

"Something wrong?" A broad-shouldered, blond young man asked after a moment. He wore a tattered yellow cape in addition to the brown-grey rags they all wore. Gatrie, the mercenary marshal who had spent half the Dawn War drooling over Laguz.

"I... I'm sorry, but the only place we have that you can wait overnight in is the gatehouse, so..."

"It's alright, Ma'am." Taureneo flashed a smile. "We've spent the last seventeen-"

"Fourteen months, two weeks, three days, and fourteen hours." Another of their group said softly.

"But who's counting, right?" Another, the only female, laughed. "Soren, just because you didn't pack enough books to spend the entire trip reading doesn't mean it was a horrible experience."

Taureneo sighed. "May I-"

"It was for Ike." Soren interrupted solemnly. "Damn that filthy sub-human."

Everybody froze.

"I thought you were-"

"I am Branded, yes." Soren interrupted Zihark angrily. "I have Laguz blood mixed with Beorc. But there is nothing - nothing! - that justifies what happened to Ike."

"Ike?" Astrid piped up. When they turned to look at her, she shrunk back, blushing furiously. "Of the Dawn War?"

"Yeah. Ike. You were there, remember?" The last of their group, a giant of a man wearing what looked like several rags stitched crudely together, spoke with a rumbling voice. "You, Geoffrey, the redhead dude. All the Royal Crimean Knights were there, fighting Ashera. Come on, you gotta remember that!"

"I just wanted to make sure it was the same Ike." Astrid whimpered.

"It was." Soren said gravely. "That damned sub-human blew him to pieces."


	2. Chapter 2

Follows already! Thanks to Mariko Midori, Cookie-the-Platypus, Gunlord500, and Mathmatt878 for showing me that people care about prologues. Because of that, I've gotten right to work on the actual storyline. Honestly, I expected to have a couple weeks to get this done.

I've also been getting a few notes about Ike being dead. I just want to point out that the only canon I have to work off of is Radiant Dawn's epilogue sequence. That means Ike has to die. He was never seen again, which means either he sailed off alone, without a crew, like that guy who tried to cross the Pacific in a canoe only without a GPS, a cell phone, or a destination; or he brought some friends, but died.

What else could I do?

But enough about that. Without further ado, here's chapter 1. Go nuts.

**Chapter 1**

"Ike… dead?" Queen Elincia of Crimea asked, shocked. Taureneo nodded gravely, then turned to Soren.

"You saw what happened better than we did. Please, do tell."

Soren's frown hardened. "A bird Laguz killed him with fire. It was… horrible."

"Fire? How could a hawk use magic?" Elincia frowned.

"It wasn't a hawk." Soren said grimly.

"A raven, then. Still-"

"Not a raven. I don't know what sort of thing that bird was, but it killed Ike. With fire. Somehow."

Bastian, Elincia's most trusted advisor, finally spoke up. "Perhaps the Laguz from wherever you visited have learned magic. It seems contrived that only Beorc can learn it. However, can you tell us more about this country?"

"Continent." Zihark corrected automatically.

"Lots of Laguz." Mia grinned. "Birds, beasts, herons. They all lived together, in one country. I can't remember what they called it, but-"

"Archanea." Zihark again.

"Yeah, sure. Anyway, all these Laguz lived together, and then the king, Gabriel, a heron, had us eat a bunch of potatoes and vegetables and stuff, and-"

Bastian sighed. "Perhaps it would be better to explain later, over dinner. I'm sure there's much to discuss. And correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Sephiran join you on your journey? Is he dead, as well?"

"Huh?" Mia's face turned blank. "Oh, yeah. He and Titania are back on the boat with Fleur, Michael, Paschar, Xane, and Kutiel.

"You remember all those names, but not what continent they're from?" Rolf frowned.

"It's a gift." Mia grinned proudly.

"Either way, I believe it would be prudent to speak with these… visitors." Bastian prodded.

"Yes, I do believe Fleur-de-Lis was fairly seasick." Taureneo grimaced. "Poor girl was in bed the entire trip. In fact, I don't believe a single one of them recognized our vessel for what it was. As if they'd never seen a boat before."

"Either way," he continued, "I shall send for the royal knights to deliver them here. Taureneo, would you mind riding with them, to make sure they keep on the path? I believe Titania left her mount here in our stable; you could bring him to her, perhaps?"

/)*(\

Geoffrey, Kieran, Makalov, Oscar, Astrid, and Titania arrived at Castle Crimea just as the sun was beginning to set, each carrying another on their mount. Above them flew a bright white heron, which swirled down to land at the ground, then, with a flash of light, turned to a young man with a pair of white, feathered wings.

"I'll get the horses locked up." Makalov grunted. As the others entered the castle, he whistled for a stableman and then leaned against the wall of the stable, closing his eyes.

"Right this way, please." Geoffrey gestured, leading the way inside. "Lord Sephiran, Marcia is standing by to deliver you to Serenes Forest if you feel the need. Your wings are still black, I see."

"I'll be fine for now. I wish to have a word with Lorazieh, and then see Sanaki. I can wait."

"Very well. Marcia!" He called. "Would you care to join us for dinner?"

He didn't wait for an answer, but instead delved further into Castle Crimea.

/)*(\

"Queen Elincia, these are travellers the Heron King Gabriel bid travel with us back to Tellius." Sephiran said as, one by one, they were seated around a massive banquet table.

"Fleur-de-Lis, Kutiel, and Paschar, King Gabriel's three eldest daughters-" He gestured to three young women, all with white heron wings betraying their true nature. "-Prince Michael, Gabriel's son and successor-" this time, a young man with watery blue eyes. "-and Xane, one of King Gabriel's most trusted advisors."

Xane was a short man, with flaming crimson hair that contained a snow white feather, presumably from either Michael or one of the princesses.

"I'm sure you have many questions about their homeland, Archanea, but as King Gabriel has bid us the honor of having his own children here, I believe it would be prudent to give them this time to ask whatever they feel they must."

"Of course, yes." Elincia smiled. "My name is Elincia, queen of Crimea. This is Renning, my-"

"Introductions have already been made, milady." Michael interrupted. "May I ask what is keeping the king from joining us?"

Elincia blushed furiously and began stammering. Lucia cut in. "There is no king of Crimea."*

"I… see." The heron frowned.

"Archanea is a male-dominated society." Taureneo explained. "Rulership is passed from father to son, like in Daien. I suppose a female-led one would be fairly unexpected, to say the least."

There was silence for a time, until Marcia burst in through the door, panting heavily. "Oh, crackers! I'm late, aren't I? I'm so sorry, my stupid brother was- erm… who are these? I thought…?"

"It's fine, Marcia. Have a seat." Bastian waved her over. "I'll catch you up."

/)*(\

"Excuse me, King Lorazieh?" Sephiran asked late that night, ducking into the guest room Elincia had appointed him.

"Hmm?" The old heron sat up in his bed. "Ah, Sephiran. Shall I sing you the Galdr of Rest again?"

Sephiran sighed wearily. "It's been over a year. I don't need you to sing me to sleep anymore, sire. I wish to speak with you about the matter we had discussed… I spoke with King Gabriel about repopulating the Serenes Forest. He… wants a dowry."

"Excuse me?"

"Archanea is big on blood relations. He wants at least two marriages between the herons. That's why he sent his four children."

"I… You mean-?"

"Leanne, Rafiel, or Reyson. Two of them have to go back to Gabriel, or Serenes Forest will end with Leanne."

"Well… there's always the chance of a crossbreed."

"King Lorazieh, forgive me for being blunt, but that will never work. The odds of that occurring would be phenomenally small, and even then, what happens in a generation? We've reached an Adam-and-Eve scenario, only everybody's already related. The only way to keep the heron population alive is by following Gabriel's orders."

"But…"

"I've spoken with some Crimean falcoknights. Your children are being flown over as we speak. I suggest you get some rest. King Gabriel has agreed to arrive personally on a boat after his liege, Xane, returns with the chosen two."

"I… I see." Lorazieh's shoulders slumped. "But there must be some other-"

"None. Goodnight, my king."

Sephiran began singing softly, a slow, wandering tune. The Galdr of Rest. Lorazieh was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

"I'm sorry." He said after a moment, turning to leave. "I will find a way to save them."

*Yes, I'm aware an A support between Geoffrey and Elincia gets them married, but I don't like it. They were raised as siblings from birth. Just because legally they're not related doesn't make it any less Squicky.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey, guys. I'm here again, with Chapter 2.

Also, I've decided chapters are going to start out fairly short for now, until more people are interested. Things will get longer, but I'd rather have more than two followers first. If you want me to continue this, let me know! I've got a 90% chance to underestimate myself; give me a reason to keep going beyond 'maybe somebody will notice it when it's finished'.

So… go nuts.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

King Scrimir of Gallia was in a foul mood. Admittedly, he often was, but today was especially foul. One of his best fighters, a dragon Laguz named Garoth, had been beaten in battle by a weakling, a puny little Beorc mage. And as Scrimir had gone to discuss Garoth to ask what was wrong, why he had been beaten so easily, he had caught another Laguz paying Garoth.

Scrimir's combat games had been founded almost a year ago, after what many were calling the Dawn War. As an alternative to war, Beorc and Laguz had opted to begin a playful type of sparring, which Scrimir had swiftly turned into a competition. Bets were placed, and money traded hands. But paying a fighter to lose? That was ridiculous! He had already sent a message around, but…

"Scrimir?"

He spun around, then relaxed. "Queen Nailah. I have need of your-"

"I'm not Nailah." The wolf told him. "I'm Volug."

"You wolves confuse me! I sent for Nailah!" Scrimir snarled.

Volug snorted. "She's on her way. Helping the last of the wolves settle in Gallia. Most of them have never been anywhere but Hatari. They need some help. She sent me ahead to learn what's going on."

A low growl rose from the back of Scrimir's throat as he explained the situation.

"Ah… Scrimir?" Volug asked an hour later when Scrimir had stopped shouting. "Garoth might have fought a thunder mage? Thunder is dangerous to dragons."

Scrimir's face turned blank. Volug sighed. "I'm just going to go-"

"Garoth wasn't the first time." Scrimir barked. "Everybody's losing money! It's as if somebody's fixing the fights! This is a horrible affront to the honour of my arena!"

Volug rolled his eyes. "It's gambling. Everybody loses money. Fine, here – Nailah and I will try to find proof that somebody's 'fixing the fights'. But I'm pretty sure not."

Scrimir grumbled incoherently.

"Goodbye." Volug turned and ran off.

/)*(\

"So these are the _only_ herons on Tellius?" Michael asked, with a bemused expression on his face.

Sephiran sighed. "Yes. Besides King Lorazieh and myself, these three are the only ones."

Both groups stood in a courtyard, sizing one another up.

"What-?" Rafiel and Fleur-de-Lis, the eldest princess, spoke at once.

"Go ahead." Rafiel relented, to the shock of all four Archaneans.

"Erm… I was going to ask about your wings." She said softly. "They're…"

"Hatari." He said sadly. "The wolf Laguz don't know much about healing birds. I was travelling through the desert, and I flew too hard. They don't work anymore."

"I see."

"What I was going to ask," He continued, "was what made Lord Sephiran assume we would be alright with this?"

Sephiran sighed. "I'm sorry, but I told you Serenes will die unless King Gabriel can be persuaded to open trade routes, allow Archanean herons passage. When you hold control over whether a country lives or dies, you get to name any price."

Michael cleared his throat. "I suppose Princess… Leanne… and I must go, then? Allow Princes Rafiel and Reyson their pick?"

Sephiran blinked. "I suppose." He spoke to Leanne for a minute in the Ancient Language, and then turned back to Michael. "She doesn't speak much other than ancient, but-"

Michael interrupted him by breaking into the same language. Leanne jumped, then turned to him, chattering excitedly.

"Yes, yes, well. Carry on, then." He nodded to the others, and they walked back into the castle.

The remaining five eyed one another nervously, Sephiran standing off to the side.

/)*(\

Volug spotted Reyson in the amphitheater, waiting for Scrimir's next match to begin. He jumped up several tiered seats, weaving around Laguz and Beorc who were bundled up tightly against the threatening rain.

"Scrimir doesn't know… _Oh, forget it._" He scowled, reverting to the Ancient Language. "_Mordecai hasn't taught me enough Tellian. Reyson, have you heard anything about cheating in the arena?"_ For the first time, Volug noticed the heron at Reyson's side. "_Erm… and this is…?"_

Reyson sighed. "Volug, this is Paschar. I'll explain later, okay? Paschar, Volug is a wolf Laguz. You guys have those, right? And how would somebody cheat in plain sight?"

"_Scrimir's afraid that people are paying competitors to lose. I don't really understand what he's worried about, but I figured you might know."_

"Oh, rigging. Yeah, of course. You make a massive bet on the underdog, pay the better fighter to lose on purpose, and then make a ton of money."

"_That happens?"_

"Nah, everybody's too afraid of Scrimir to bother. I think it used to happen in Daein, though, during the Mad King's Reign. Sothe told me something like that, anyway. Ashnard was really into gladiator fights."

"_I see._ Thank you."

An earth-shaking roar erupted from the crowd all around them. Volug flinched, his keen ears ringing.

"Game on!" Reyson cheered. "One of Tibarn's hawks is taking on Ranulf. This'll be good."

The two competitors squared off on a raised dais in the center of the amphitheater. Both shifted, and Scrimir stepped up to face the crowd.

"Ranulf of Gallia versus Zephyros of the United Bird Tribe!" He roared. As the crowd answered, Ranulf dove at the bird, claws outstretched. Zephyros shrieked at him, flapping heavily to rise out of the way, but Ranulf was too fast. The hawk dropped in a bloody heap after one strike.

"Ranulf wi-" Scrimir began, but the rest of his sentence was drowned out by a bloodcurdling scream.

Reyson jumped, then glared at Paschar.

"He… he… he just… wha?" She panted, then crumpled to the ground.

"What the hell?" Reyson shook his head. "Sorry!" He called out to the crowd after a moment. "Alright, c'mon now…"

He eventually managed to walk out of the arena, Paschar's immobile form cradled in his wings.

/)*(\

"You showed her what!?" Xane shouted after Reyson had explained what had happened. They were in Serenes Forest, where the visitors had been relocated to. Things were awkward enough, Elincia thought, without them homesick as well.

"It was one fight. A lame one, too."

Xane sighed. "Kutiel, bring Paschar to her room. Reyson and I have some things to discuss."

The third heron princess nodded, and took her sister gently, moving away without a sound.

"Come with me, heron." The red-haired guard said evenly. Reyson followed him outside the vine-covered building the herons of Serenes had lived in.

"What the hell made you think it would be entertaining to a heron to watch Laguz kill one another?"

"Hey, I never asked her to come with me."

Xane sighed. "Listen to me, heron. Do you idiots worship Medeus or something?"

"Who?"

"Medeus. The god of chaos?"

Reyson chuckled. "We call her Yune, but yeah. She's much nicer than the goddess of order. More fun to be around, too. Hehe, bag of organs."

Xane stared dumbly at him. "Lovely image that painted. And I suppose female-domination is much more integral to your society than Queen Elincia would have us believe. As is chaos, I suppose? Violence is the norm?"

"Yeah, I guess. We had a couple wars a few years back, but…"

"Anri preserve us…" Xane hissed under his breath. "I only know this because of something I can't tell you, but for about a thousand years, Gabriel's been leading us in the way of peace and order. Most Archaneans don't know what violence is. Everything is perfectly ordered, as is the way Anri demanded."

"Sounds boring." Reyson let out a low whistle.

Xane sighed. "It got old fast. That's why I took this job. But brutal harmony is all most of the people still alive know. If we descend into chaos, Medeus returns, and then the only thing we can do is pray Marth returns to save us."

"Sounds a lot like our legend of the Fire Emblem."

"Look, Reyson. I want to help you. I want King Gabriel to allow travel, so I can get out of that boring paradise. But if you scare off the princesses by showing them just what they've been missing, then it doesn't matter. If word gets back to Gabriel, then he'll drag his daughters back, build a barricade, and lock you out. I have to sit and wait in perfect peace forever, your heron tribe dies, and eventually, if you ever return, he declares war. Medeus comes back, and Archanea drowns.

"So…"

"So don't screw this up, got it? I've got a lot riding on this." Xane opened the door, and called for Kutiel.

"Unless Rafiel screws up with Fleur (unlikely), or Michael is secretly gay (more unlikely), she's your last chance. Don't mess this up for me."

"Sure. Hey, Kutiel, uh… wanna go stare at rocks?"

"Alright."

Reyson's expression of disbelief was still there when they returned three hours later.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys, Strategist14 here again with chapter 3. I'm still pretty disappointed that after over 100 members read this thing, only a handful of you have bothered to comment, favourite, or even acknowledge it. I don't mind some negative criticism, if you'll just tell me why it's negative. Should I just stop wasting my time with this and start a crossover between Yugioh and Minecraft, or something?

Actually, that could work…

If you like it, say so. Please. I'd like to have a reason for doing this. That said, on the worst days I've still gotten at least one view, so I'm not giving up quite yet. Maybe one of you guys actually cares enough to keep checking. It means a lot.

Alright, rant over. Here's Chapter 3, in which Volug continues trying to say words. Go nuts.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Rafiel shuddered, locking the door behind him.

"This is ridiculous." He sighed. Sephiran raised an eyebrow wryly.

"Sephiran, why? I have no wish for this. Clearly, none of them do either. You must have seen it."

The old heron shook his head. "My power is long gone. I can barely sing the simplest of Galdrar. Looking into a soul is beyond me. But please, tell me what you see when you look into them."

"Pain. Not a single one of them wishes for what's happening to them. Remember how Prince Michael said that Archanea was male-oriented? It occurs to me that he wasn't kidding. I don't think any of the princesses had any say at all in coming here."

"Like you and your siblings?"

Another sigh. "Exactly like us. Sephiran, I'm celibate. You know that. Everybody knows that. I find no reason to wed any of Gabriel's children beyond tightening the chains that bind them."

"It cannot be helped. You won't believe what Xane, that guard of theirs, told me about Reyson."

"Nailah told me. It's… interesting, especially after the Dawn War. A continent without chaos."

"Mmm. It's lucky there are three of them, so he gets a second chance."

"Sephiran, listen to yourself. 'Second chance'? You sound like Michael."

Sephiran grimaced. "I know. You only have to fake it for another week at most. King Gabriel should be arriving soon. I overheard him speaking with Xane. One week after they arrive, which is now in four days' time, Xane is to take a small vessel offshore, to where Gabriel will have hidden his own ship. They are then to discuss the prospect of trading, though I have my concerns. If you can feign agreement until then, you can discuss it with him in person."

"We shall see, Lord Sephiran."

* * *

"This is pointless." Skrimir snarled. "If they will not defend by their honor, I will find them!"

"Nothing is happening!" Volug insisted. "We cannot find a thing!"

"Anything, Volug." A snow-white wolf corrected him. "We cannot find _anything_." The brown wolf growled and clamped his mouth shut. "King Skrimir," Nailah continued, "I spoke with Gareth. He is insistent that he was unwilling to allow himself to be maimed for a bag of gold. Besides, what would King Kurthnaga's bodyguard need money for? If anything, he'd be using the arena to train. How would letting himself get beaten up improve that?"

"It doesn't matter!" The massive lion king roared. "If the dragon will not admit his dishonor, then I-"

"Just _ask_ him!" Volug snapped, then shut his mouth angrily.

"Volug, use your words. Heaven knows you need practice." Nailah commanded.

"You always were obsessing about glory and honour in the Dawn War. Why is this time different? Why do you think Gareth will not answer if you ask his honour?"

Skrimir was silent.

"Oh, not you, too." Nailah sighed. "Both you dogs, speak!"

Skrimir shot her a glare. "I am a lion. You insult my honor!"

"Oh, go whine to Ranulf, why don't you? Answer Volug's question."

"I'm not-"

"Answer!"

"Fine!" He roared. "Ashera dishonoured herself. She ignored her and Yune's pact, and struck when we were not ready. And if the Goddess of Order has no honour, then what is its purpose?"

The wolves were silent.

"Exactly." Skrimir snarled. "I will fix this myself. If honour is dead, then I will show everyone why it shouldn't be!"

He spun around, dropping to all fours in a white flash as he shifted to beast form. Volug glanced at Nailah, who shrugged.

"_It occurs to me that Skrimir thought I was you when I first arrived to investigate this._" Volug said in the Ancient language.

"Use your words." She said evenly.

"When I came here before, Skrimir mistook that I was you. Maybe he thought somebody other was Gareth."

Nailah was silent for a moment. "Perhaps. But if he's got some idea for how to deal with this his own way, then we've got to figure out how to convince him."

"_Soren. He trusts Soren."_

"Use words, Volug."

"I don't know the word."

"Trust."

"Okay. Skrimir trust Soren."

"Oh, boy. Just… go see Mordecai, will you? I'll deal with this."

* * *

"What do you want, Tibarn?" A young man, not much more than a boy really, asked in a tired voice.

"Later. Have you slept at all?" The hawk king frowned.

"It doesn't matter. What do you want from me? After all," he hiccupped, "-that's all I am, right? A tool to be used, as if I'm good enough."

"Don't talk like that. What happened to Ike wasn't your fault."

"Wasn't it!?" The boy demanded. "I'm supposed to protect him!" His voice cracked. "I'm supposed to keep him -_hic_- alive. I'm supposed to help him." He broke down into tears. "I'm supposed to guide him. I told -_hic_- him that I'd follow him. Why couldn't I -_hic_- save him!?"

"Are you drunk?" Tibarn asked, nose twitching from the irritating scent coming from the boy's breath.

The boy laughed through his tears. "That's not alcohol. I don't -_hic_- drink. Ike did, but I never drink. Alcohol is bad for planning. Besides, I can't -_hic_- get drunk."

"Then what's that smell?" Tibarn took a deep breath, trying to identify the scent.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Hawks -_hic_- don't have good smell, so if you can no-_hic_-tice it, it must really stink in here."

"Tell me what it is, will you? It's driving me nuts."

Another slightly-crazed laugh and Tibarn's blood chilled. He remembered a particularly grisly night in a swamp just over a year ago, where it had been very faint, almost hidden completely beneath the revolting combination of death and decay.

"No… not-"

"You know, you should really -_hic_- try some of this. Leanne must have liked it. What was his name, that Daein summoner -_hic_- in Gritnea?"

Tibarn frowned. "Are you talking about the Dawn War?"

"No. How can… oh, that's right. You weren't there. You never arrived! Haha! It was Izuka, wasn't it?"

Tibarn stiffened. "How do you know about Izuka?"

"H_e _-_hic_- gave me this. You should try some; it's really -_hic_- good." The boy waved a vial of silvery powder at him.

"You took something from Izuka?"

"Yeah, haha… I wonder if he ever had some of this himself."

"Godammit, give me that!" Tibarn snatched the vial and threw it to the ground, where it shattered.

"Aww… but it's so-"

"We need to get you to Serenes. now!"

He grabbed the boy and stepped outside, then began flying; his wings beating powerfully even without shifting.

"Let… me… go!"

"I really don't think you mean that. Now hold on. Janaff and Ulki should be nearby-" He let out a shriek. "-and they'll help get you to Lorazieh."

Two massive hawks, easily larger than the boy who was now struggling to escape Tibarn's grip, swooped through a cloud. One of them grabbed the boy out from Tibarn's grasp, and began flying. The other turned humanoid in a white flash, and glanced at Tibarn wordlessly.

"I think Soren just took some of the Feral Drug."

* * *

A Crimean sentinel found Janaff's dead body lying in a ditch later that day, brutally mangled and scorched.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey everybody. Sorry it took so long – I've got a dozen reasons I can list, but I doubt anybody'd care.

Thanks a ton for Anon's review. I honestly didn't want to have to kill anybody either (it limits my options for a sequel, Chekhov's Gun, or inside joke), but I'm trying to stick to the mentality that all Fire Emblem games have: anyone can die. So don't count on everybody surviving to the end, because in this story, you've got no idea WHO the character that has to survive to complete the chapter is. Maybe it's Brom the omnicidal maniac.

If you've got a scene or two you want me to do, tell me! Probably by PM, though, so you don't spoil it for my other readers, who haven't bothered to acknowledge it yet. I know you're out there.

Well, here things get interesting, the plot picks up, and chapters start getting longer. I'm not going to give up on writing this, so if I don't post for a long time blame it on the economy or something. I haven't given up until I say that I have.

Without further ado, the plot begins here. Go nuts.

**CHAPTER 4**

* * *

King Gabriel of Archanea was a regal figure, thought Geoffrey. He stood proud and clearly meant to look intimidating, though his short stature and girlishly angelic appearance did little to support the endeavor. Geoffrey found himself disliking the king, though he couldn't tell why. The way he stared at Elincia, perhaps?

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. Right now, as Xane stood guard with an Archanean beast Laguz, Leanne and Michael were boarding. Rafiel stood, stiff and silent, Lorazieh and Sephiran off to the side with Elincia. Naesala and Nealuchi of the United Bird Tribe were also there, watching silently some distance away.

After Leanne and Michael stepped belowdecks, nobody moved. Finally, Gabriel scowled.

"Who is next‽ We had agreed that all three Herons would be delivered to me." The heron paused. "Unless you, Lord... Sephiroth, was it?"

"Sephiran, sir. And no, I have no intention of abandoning Altina."

"Then choose which of my daughters will be yours, Prince Rafiel."

Rafiel was silent for a long time, and then sighed.

"I cannot decide."

Out of the corner of his eye, Geoffrey noticed one of the herons – he couldn't tell which one, but she seemed to be the tallest – bite her lip.

"However," Rafiel continued, "would you allow me to make my selection at a later time, provided I join you on the journey back to Archanea?"

Gabriel exhaled softly. "Very well, though you realize that Prince Reyson will select his before then, correct? If you, as the eldest son, wish to forfeit your birthright-"

"I have no intention of taking one of your daughters as my birthright, King Gabriel."

"Excuse me?" Gabriel narrowed his eyes. In the background, Geoffrey noticed Xane smack his forehead.

Rafiel paused. "Er… I meant that… King Gabriel, you know that I-"

"Fie, enough foolishness. Where is Prince Reyson?"

"That's what I'm here for." Naesala spread his wings and flew over. "Prince Reyson of Serenes told me to tell you guys he isn't going."

Once again, Geoffrey watched Xane hit himself, muttering softly.

"He's in Gallia right now. Said not to go after him, because he's watching Skrimir's game and 'unless those gutless wimps can handle a little excitement, they shouldn't even show up'. I tried to talk him out of it, but…"

"I see." Gabriel was silent. For several uncomfortable minutes, the only sound to be heard was Xane smashing his head into a stack of barrels over and over.

"Kril, watch the boat. Xane- Xane, stop playing with the barrels. King Lorazieh, direct me to this Gallia, if you will."

"I'm coming, too." Elincia insisted.

"Irrelevant. Prince Reyson will not back out of this now." Gabriel hissed. He and Lorazieh shifted in flashes of light. As Geoffrey whistled for Elincia's mount to stop grazing, Xane shifted as well, and the trio of herons took wing. Elincia jumped onto her Pegasus, and then flew after them.

Nealuchi glanced sideways at Naesala as he settled back down beside him.

"Naesala… Reyson said that he wanted to say goodbye to Skrimir. There was nothing about-"

"Shh, old crow." Naesala muttered. "Your memory's going."

"I remember everything, nestling. I remember Ike striking down Dhigensea in exactly twenty-six seconds, bolstered by Leanne's warsong. I remember you bravely fighting to rid the land of King Ashnard. I specifically remember Reyson asking for a few extra minutes to say goodbye to Skrimir. Why would you make up such a thing?"

Naesala sighed. "It's all I'm good for, isn't it? Betraying people?"

"Well now-"

"It doesn't matter." Naesala spread his wings again. "Tell Gabriel that I'm sorry for wasting his time."

"Nestling, I-"

But Naesala was gone.

Geoffrey watched it all in contemplative silence. Contempt. That was the word he was thinking of.

/)*(\

"I apologize again for my son's insubordination." Lorazieh said for the third time as he, Gabriel, Xane, and Elincia flew.

"We shall see." The Archanean king grumbled. "Be glad it was not your daughter. You've trained her well, it appears."

"I'm sorry?"

"Your daughter? Leanne?"

"Well, yes, but… trained?"

"One moment." Gabriel banked sharply, folding into a downward spiral. Xane did the same while Lorazieh and Elincia chose instead to make a more controlled descent.

"Now what in the world could have caused that?" wondered Gabriel. Xane smacked his forehead again.

"Ah found him while doing the usual rounds." said a young woman with muted green hair. She and giant of a man were shoveling the gravel that made up the road, shifting it to hide the dark red stains. "Hello, yer majesty. Sorry 'bout the mess, we're just cleanin' up the last of it." She stood up,

"What happened?" Gabriel asked with disgust etched across his face.

"We think it was-"

"Lightning!" Xane shouted. "Lightning, right? Because there was a storm the other day, and-"

"There was a storm?"

"Yeah!" He nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, big storm, and he was… uh… flying?"

"D'ya even know who this was?"

"Ah… yes? Yes, I do. His name was… ah…"

"Janaff?"

"Right, yes, Janaff! He was, uh, just going along, and the lightning hit – BAM – just like that. That's what happened, hehe…"

"Rrrrrriiiiiight. Anyways, yer majesty, Ah've been keepin' lookout fer anythin' strange, ya know? Stopped the Goddess, but we still gotta keep an eye out fer bandits an' all. So Ah found Janaff here a fair bit ago. He looked like he'd been burned, if ya know what Ah mean. Feathers all singed and so."

"Aha!" Xane exclaimed. "So he could fly!"

The farmgirl stared blankly at him. "Eh… yeah. That's what Ah said. Ah s'pose it coulda been lightnin', but bandits seem more likely t' me."

"Can we proceed?" Gabriel asked, disinterested.

Elincia shook her head. "Nephenee, have you alerted anybody else about this? Tibarn?"

The other farmer stood up. Sweating profusely, he mopped a handkerchief over his brow. "She told me. Mah family all heard that there was some sorta problem, but only Zihark knew the details."

"I see. And the bird tribe?"

"No; we didn't have the chance. Heck, we don't even know fer sure it's Janaff, but Ah'm bettin' so. Ah recognize his scarf."

"I see. Well, make sure you have Tibarn come take a look, will you? I'm sure he'd be interested in knowing."

"_Queen_ Elincia, may we proceed?" Gabriel asked impatiently.

She nodded primly, vaulted over her Pegasus, and off the quartet flew.

They flew in silence for hours until reaching Gallia, then dropped from the sky, Xane and Gabriel again leading with deep, sudden plunges before they reverted to human form.

"Now… where is the princeling?" Gabriel demanded, turning to Lorazieh.

"He'll be at Skrimir's Arena, wouldn't he?" Elincia asked. Xane smacked his forehead yet again.

"Take me there."

The sound of cheering was audible long before the amphitheatre itself came into view.

"And the winner is Kezhda! The ebon cat of night wins yet another round – only one more before he battles me, King Skrimir, for my crown!"

"Oh please no." Xane whimpered. Gabriel frowned thoughtfully.

"Hey. You guys are here early."

Everybody spun around to see Reyson hovering lightly an inch above the ground.

"Naesala told me that King Gabriel wasn't arriving until tonight." He continued. "I wanted to see Kezhda take on Skrimir. It's gonna be awesome."

"Er… yeah. Remember what we talked about, Reyson?" Xane said through clenched teeth. "In Serenes?"

"Oh yeah, the whole no-violence thing. King Gabriel, you may not want to watch this, so I dunno, maybe you guys could go back to Crimea?"

"Ah… Xane? What exactly is going on?" The heron king's words were even, carefully controlled and laced with steel. In the background, Skrimir could be heard announcing the next battle.

"Kezhda's final battle will be with the snow-white butcher, mistress of the evil eye, the queen of the Hatari wolves, Nailah!"

"Doomed." Reyson chuckled. "He'll never be able to beat her. I'm sorry, but I've just gotta see this."

He flew past them, leaving half the group with dumbfounded expressions and the other half with barely concealed anger.

"I'll talk to him." Elincia sighed. "I'm sorry, King Gabriel. I don't know what's…"

"It matters not." He hissed. "The heron prince Reyson will submit, or your country," he glared pointedly at Lorazieh and Sephiran, "will die." He gestured sharply to Xane. "We need to talk."

"Yes, sir."

Elincia found Reyson staring intently at the black cat on the arena.

"He can't do it." He guffawed after a moment. "He's afraid."

"Can you blame him?" Elincia asked thoughtfully. "I saw what she did to Ike's men. It was… horrifying."

They were silent for a moment, watching as Kezhda stood rooted to the spot as Nailah slowly approached, her eyes gleaming with malice.

"Reyson, what exactly are you trying to do?" Elincia said carefully.

"Hmm?"

"You're obviously trying to scare Gabriel away. Why? Don't you want Serenes to be regenerated?"

"I dunno, sure. But… I don't trust him. Herons can read souls, remember? There's something dark in him. It's like Ashera."

"Fine. But that doesn't mean that-"

"I don't like him. The less we have to do with him and Archanea, the better."

"But-"

"No!"

Elincia sighed. "Fine. Then at least try to be civil."

Reyson stared intently as Nailah finally reached the black cat. She roared, and Kezhda let out a whimper, jumping from the platform. Reyson burst into laughter.

"I called it! I so called it!"

"If you two are quite finished, I've made my decision." Gabriel called over.

"Be civil." Elincia hissed, and they made their way back to the group.

"I will have nothing to do with any of the sins you embrace." Gabriel snarled with a tone of finality. "If Tellius is allowed to continue on its course, the flood will return."

"The… flood?" Lorazieh frowned.

"I will not allow your corruption to spread to Archanea. I am returning now, and if EVER a Tellian returns to Archanea, I swear that you shall suffer!"

He drew a handful of something from a pouch, and a rune etched itself on the ground beneath him in glowing letters. Xane did the same, and they both vanished in pillars of bright light.

"Warp Powder…" Sephiran frowned. "Where would Gabriel get Warp Powder?"

"We can discuss that later." Lorazieh shook his head. "We must follow them!"

"The boat's at Crimea." Elincia pointed out, jumping over her Pegasus. "Hyah!"

"We're coming, too."

Everybody looked over to see Nailah and Volug arrive, coming from the direction of the arena. Nailah was in humanoid form, Volug in his wolf body. Volug said something in Ancient, but a stern glare from Nailah convinced him to repeat it.

"One of us saw Xane sulking around in Hatari. We want to know why."

"Skulking." Nailah corrected automatically. "Crimea, right? We'll meet you there. Just try and buy us enough time to get there."

"Got it." Lorazieh shifted with a flash, then he and Sephiran took off. Elincia dug her heels into her mount's flanks, and it took off with a whinny.

"Hell, I s'pose this is my fault." Reyson frowned as Nailah too shifted, and then she and Volug took off. He shifted, and then flew off in another direction.

/)*(\

"Stop!" Geoffrey demanded, barring the gangplank with his greatlance. "I insist that I hear from Elincia before allowing you to depart."

King Gabriel looked evenly at him, then let out a short chirp of noise. The Crimean knight dropped to the ground in a crumpled heap.

"Everything is ready?" He called over to a deckhand, stepping carefully over Geoffrey's body.

"Yes, sir."

"Then shove off. We're done here."

"Stop!" There was an ear-splitting shriek, and the top half of that deckhand was ripped to pieces. His lower half covered in blood, Naesala dropped to the deck, wings flexed.

"Heathen!" Gabriel cried, and Beorc deckhands raced out. He began singing Galdr, a light and bouncy tone. Naesala stumbled, then took wing, wheeling away.

"Set off! Now!" He demanded.

"Yes sir!"

"Why are you doing this, Gabriel?" Rafiel and Tibarn stepped onboard. "What exactly did Reyson do?"

Gabriel turned towards them, switching back to his Galdr. A pair of deckhands stepped in front of him, both holding planks of wood menacingly. Prince Michael stepped out of a cabin, looking mildly interested.

Rafiel moaned slightly, then dropped to his knees. Tibarn jumped into action, automatically checking him for arrow wounds. Then, he hoisted the heron over his shoulder and took to the sky, flying back to shore. With a rumble, the boat took off, the gangplank dropping with a plop into the water.

Naesala wheeled back, taking the head off of one of Gabriel's two. The other stumbled back with a scream, then threw up into the pool of blood. Gabriel looked quite sick as well, and stumbled back as his Galdr faltered.

"S-stop this at once!" Michael demanded, looking paler than usual.

"Drop anchor." Naesala reverted in midair, dropping deftly to his feet. He spun around to face Gabriel, began walking towards him. "You aren't done here, understand?"

Naesala then crumpled into a heap on the deck. Gabriel stepped over him and began backing towards the open door behind Michael. He never stopped the Galdr.

"Well, I dunno what exactly you're doing, but I ain't fond of it." Tibarn snarled, shifting with a flash. "And I'm in a pretty foul mood already, so why don't you just shut the hell up and tell me what's going on?"

Gabriel cut off the Galdr. "Bring the bodies off my boat. We're leaving now. There will be no further discussion."

"Why?"

"No further discussion. Clear the bodies."

"I'd rather-"

"Clean the bodies or join them."

"Fine, fine." He raised his hands in self-defence. "I just wanted to know."

As Tibarn threw the last dead Archanean overboard, he felt a blade at his back.

"I'm leaving, I'm leaving."

He shifted, then flew a short distance over the few feet of water. The deckhands dropped sails, and Gabriel's ship took off.

Tibarn turned to examine Rafiel and Naesala's bodies. There wasn't a sign of any physical injury, no magical scarring, or any hint of the effect at all. Hell, it was as if…

Tibarn felt a thump in his chest, then heard a strange noise, and then a girl screaming. A flash of white flew at the ship, and he heard Gabriel's Galdr restart.

Tibarn looked around, but his head was throbbing, and he couldn't see anything through the blood rushing to his head. He felt himself starting to fly towards the boat, and shut his eyes against the pain. Something hit his wing, and Tibarn plummeted. He heard a woman scream something and felt impact. The Galdr stopped, and everything turned quiet.

It took a moment, but Tibarn realized he wasn't breathing. He opened his eyes to see everything was dim, except for some light from far away. It was like looking through a tunnel.

"Blast." He tried to say. Water rushed into his mouth and the pounding behind his eyes intensified. He closed his eyes and embraced the salty burning in his throat.


	6. Chapter 6

Badiak

Thanks again for the review, and I'm really sorry, but Tibarn isn't dead. Tibarn's on the main character list I posted this story with, so…

I also wanted to gauge audience reaction; test the waters to see if people prefer to see characters die off and have a smaller cast. Rest assured that Tibarn wouldn't die that easily. If he did, then I'd be writing a love story memoir between his ghost and some Hawk chick OC.

All

Sorry for the wait. No, it's not as long as the last one, and no, I'm not ready to start posting regularly. I meant to upload this chapter months ago, but real life happened, as it is wont to do. But three therapists later, here I am, with Chapter 6 or, in Tropese, the Breather Episode. Go nuts.

**CHAPTER 5**

* * *

Tibarn awoke feeling groggy, his head pounding. He kept his eyes closed, feeling them crusted shut with saltwater.

Instinctively, he ignored the obvious – he wasn't dead. With that out of the way, he got to work identifying his surroundings. He could smell salt, and feel a gentle swaying beneath his body. Somewhere at sea, obviously. Judging from the light filtering through his eyelids, the temperature, and the lack of wind, it was either evening or morning. He was belowdecks. There were... two? Yes, two others in the room. One was breathing heavily, the other light and quick. It reminded him of... he took a quick sniff. Nailah.

Tibarn relaxed slightly, and replayed everything that had happened. Galdr was playing... had it been Gabriel's? Had it knocked him unconscious, like Naesala and Geoffrey? The white blur... he hadn't been looking, but in his mind's eye, coupled with the olfactory stimulation, it was probably Nailah, jumping aboard the ship.

What else was there, before he'd blacked out? It was fuzzy... two screams, a pain in his chest and in his wing. A snap.

What else was there?

Water, darkness, pain. Quiet. His throat.

Tibarn almost descended into a bout of hacking when he realized his throat was still burning, but somehow managed to stay completely still.

Saltwater. He'd fallen into the water, then? Who had screamed? Nailah? Elincia?

Discretely, Tibarn edged his hand towards the spot on his chest where he had felt the impact. He froze when he felt another hand lightly cover his.

"You may be the king of the sky, but you aren't much in the way of subtlety, are you?" asked a sultry, amused voice.

Tibarn forced his eyes open, to see Nailah gazing coolly down at him, her hand over his own.

"Well, you never know." he grunted. "I might have a pair of talons at your back. Remember the Dawn War?"

"Running away to some Crimean dracoknight doesn't mean you had anybody at my back."

"Ah... guys?" Reyson's voice convinced Tibarn to survey the room further. They were indeed inside a small wood-panelled room, lit only by a torch Reyson held. It was impossible to determine where, but he had a sneaking suspicion that his initial observation, being on the boat, was correct.

"Tibarn?" Reyson asked again.

"Hmm?"

"What happened? What did we miss?"

"Oh, uh… Naesala attacked the boat, and the heron king… what was his name? Anyway, he started this crazy Galdr, and Naesala… it was like a Sleep stave, you know? He just – poof! – dropped. The king made me carry the bodies to shore, and then knocked me out the same way. I think I fell in the water."

"Yeah, I had to fish you out." Nailah grinned. "Made me all wet."

"Hard to dislike that result. But Nealuchi said that you all were off in Gallia. How'd you get back so fast? Did Elincia use a Warp staff?"

"Not Elincia. Me." Reyson chuckled.

"I don't follow. Only Beorc can-"

"Use staves? Yeah. That's what Lady Micaiah said. Word-for-word, actually. But S- sorry, what did he call himself? The green-haired Branded from the desert?"

"Stefan." Nailah offered.

"I think so. He didn't really explain why he was doing it or why he thought it was possible, but he and Micaiah and Calill and two or three others all ganged up to try and teach me to use staves."

"It makes less than no sense." Nailah shrugged, "but it got the job done. I mean, I'm missing half my tail, but…"

"Great." Tibarn groaned, and stood up. His wings tilted slightly to accommodate as the floor swayed with the boat's motion. "So Herons can use magic and other people survived the Great Flood. This all a few years after the Goddess died. As long as reality's staying consistent. If I can't fly when this is over, then I swear…" he paused when he realized that if the impact had snapped his wing, then… Tibarn flexed both wings and, satisfied, looked back to the others.

"Yeah, because you're nothing without your wings, right?" Nailah snorted. "What do you know about these guys?"

"Wait a minute; I think I deserve some answers here, too. What happened to me?"

"Galdr." It was Reyson who answered. "King Gabriel was doing something that knocked people unconscious. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen. Way beyond even Dad's abilities."

"Huh. So it _was_ the Galdr…"

Nailah smirked. "I love how you ask more about what almost killed you than what saved you. You're welcome, by the way."

"We'll call it even."

Reyson groaned. "Guys? Can we maybe try and get out of here instead of arguing about which of you owes the other more? We need a plan."

"Okay, so what do we do? Look around? Should we wait until… oh. Right." Tibarn's wings drooped as he remembered that Gabriel had no intention of returning to Tellius.

"Easy." Nailah snarled, instantly back to her savage self. "We find Gabriel and I rip his head off."

"Hey, Tibarn?" Reyson frowned. "Bird Laguz know how to use boats, right?"

"Ravens," the Hawk King replied testily. "I train soldiers, not pirates. You should know that."

"Just checking. I'm out of ideas if you can't, though."

"Then you'll learn." Nailah said sternly. "We take the ship from him and-"

"Horrible plan." Reyson shook his head. The movement set his torch flickering. "If he gets even one of us with that Galdr, we're down; for good if one of his soldiers gets us. Maybe we should wait until we arrive in Archanea, and then steal a ship to go back?"

"Aside from none of us being able to run one of these things," Tibarn patted the wall, "I don't think we'd even be able to find our way out from where we are now, assuming you got us deep enough to be safe. Cargo hold, right?" At Nailah's terse nod, he continued. "We've got to explore. We can't afford to waste our time with something like that up against us. Even Ashera couldn't just sing a song and wipe us out."

"There's one problem." Reyson piped up. "There are no Hawks or Wolves on this ship. Any one of the Archaneans will identify you with a glance. So… oh god no."

"Have fun!" Nailah shoved him towards the door. Flailing wildly, Reyson dropped his torch, which landed on Tibarn's foot. He deftly kicked it away on instinct, and Nailah got a face full of flame.

Yowling wildly, she clawed at her eyes and face until the only signs were a pair of angry red burns on her cheek and a slight singe on the eyepatch covering her right eye.

"I'll kill you." She snarled, glaring at Tibarn, who had to resist the urge to laugh.

"Ah… Nailah?" Reyson glanced at the floor, which was barely lit by leftover flames.

"What now?"

"Your tail's on fire."

"Dammit!" She shouted, and began flailing wildly, trying to grab at her tail. Tibarn chuckled, then shrugged his jacket off, told Nailah to stay still, and laid it over her tail, muffling the flickering light.

He stomped the fire out, then shook a bit of soot out of his jacket before putting it back on.

"Thanks." Nailah said breathlessly in the darkness. "That was… not fun."

Tibarn grinned. "Now what was that about who owing who?"

"I'm serious, guys. We've got to figure out what to do." Reyson shook his head. "And I'd really rather not-"

"You're going. After all the noise Nailah's been making, Gabriel's either on lookout or everybody's asleep. There's either no danger, or we'd get shot down instantly."

"Shot down?" Nailah smirked again.

Tibarn blinked. "Oh, yeah, sorry. Hawk term. Uh… burned down? I don't know, it doesn't translate well."

Reyson sighed. "Fine, I'll go. But can you guys at least _try_ and keep quiet from now on?"

"Whatever you say." Tibarn grinned. "Have fun."

"I'd say the same," Reyson quipped back, "but with the two of you alone…"

"Might be tempting fate?" Nailah raised an eyebrow.

"Sure."

Reyson shook his head, and, holding his breath, slowly opened the door. It, thankfully, had only the slightest creak, and he darted through the opening as soon as he was able to fit.

"Godspeed." Tibarn saluted as Reyson shut the door behind him. As Reyson slowly flew, mere inches off the ground so as to keep the sound of footsteps from reaching any curious sailors, he kept his eyes peeled, trying to memorize the passages. He and Nailah had boarded the boat in a panicked rush, and he had no idea which direction they had come from.

After only moments of wandering through the blackness, he cleared his throat, and began a low, soft hum of Galdr. A soft light emanated from his throat, and he looked around. Seeing an ornate bronze door, he opened it carefully and peeked in. A pair of bright blue eyes looked back at him.

"I presume that you are Malice?" The Archanean heron said softly. Reyson studied him, still humming the tiniest fraction of Galdr to provide light. Thin, even for a heron – this boy had been starving for some time. He held a large golden staff in his hand, which had two long red ribbons hanging off of it. He had opened the door into a hallway, presumably one that this boy had been about to leave. The staff was emanating light of its own, explaining the younger Heron's ability to see.

Confident that the mysterious staff's light would suffice, Reyson stopped humming to answer. "Yeah." He lied, nodding enthusiastically. You never knew – if a name was offered, take it.

"Take this to His Majesty." The heron shoved the staff into Reyson's hands.

"Wh-" Reyson had been about to ask what the staff was, but he stopped himself. 'Malice', whoever he was, would have known. "Who are you?"

"Lemuel. Hurry."

At Reyson's hesitation, the heron sighed. "You don't know where you're going, do you?"

"Not at all." Reyson shrugged. "Sorry."

"It's fine. In fact, the reason I'm supposed to drop this off to you is because I can't find my way up on my own. Sorry, can't help you."

Reyson shrugged again. "It's fine. I'll find it."

"Sorry." Lemuel turned around and started flying off. Reyson shut the door, then glanced down at the staff.

"Well, free staff." He chuckled, and then tried to remember which way he had come from. The door was on his right, and he had turned left into that corridor, but…

"Oh boy." Reyson shook his head, and picked a direction at random.

As Reyson walked, he studied the staff. He wasn't well-versed in the ways of magic, but even he knew the basic staves; Heal, Mend, Physic. This wasn't one of them.

A low growl caught his attention. He jumped, and looked around, suddenly wishing he was able to turn off the staff's light. Looking around, he was struck by a sudden realization, and tapped on a door on the side of the corridor. The growl stopped, and Reyson pushed the door open.

"Did you find a way out?" Nailah muttered, relaxing. Reyson noticed that she was crouched against the far wall, ready to pounce on whoever opened the door.

"Nope. But some guy gave me this staff." He blinked. "Where's Tibarn?"

"Just waiting." Tibarn's voice came from… Reyson looked up. Tibarn had wedged himself between a pair of rafters, hanging above the doorframe.

"Sure. Anyway, I met this guy…"

As Reyson explained his meeting, the three of them began pondering the use of the staff. Tibarn suggested Reyson use it to find out, but his attempts failed. It was far beyond his capabilities, determined Tibarn. Nailah recalled a story Micaiah had told her from the Dawn War, where attempting the same method of identification had led to disastrous consequences with a Sleep staff.

Gradually, the conversation shifted to the events of the Dawn War and the days of travel leading up to them all meeting up at the Tower of Guidance.

By the time they were laughing about Elincia's futile attempts to discern the assassin Volke's exorbitant greed, all three of them were relaxed; Nailah and Reyson sat on the floor as Tibarn kept a watchful eye from the roof. As exhaustion set upon them, the day's events finally catching up, Tibarn helped Nailah up to his perch, where they could all safely sleep the following day away.

Watching his two companions drift off to sleep, Tibarn realized, with some surprise, that this was the happiest he had been in… years? Finally, he was going on another adventure. Since the Dawn War, everything had felt... boring. On his darkest days, he had found himself fearing that all that was left to do was lay down and wait to die. But now he had a purpose.

Feeling Nailah's warm fur shift slightly against his side, Tibarn smiled. This was what he lived for.


	7. Chapter 7

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

I know, I know. It's been months. Frankly, I've had this chapter finished for a long time. I just, honestly, forgot. Heck, the only reason I thought of it now is because I got an email about how Serene Radiance got a new follower. So if it seems that I haven't posted in a while, PM me. Chances are, I forgot, and you'll find a new chapter mysteriously posted later that night.

This one's shorter than most of my previous ones. Just be happy that I updated.

Go nuts.

The three Laguz spent what felt, to Nailah, like weeks holed up in the room, with Reyson occasionally wandering out to snag food from wherever it was he found it. By Tibarn's guess, they were hidden somewhere far below deck, though she found it bizarre that Reyson and she could somehow wander so far down, even in blind panic, while she was carrying Tibarn.

Eventually, the third time Nailah had gone into a fit of hacking coughs after taking a bite of the food he returned with, she couldn't take it.

"That's it. I can't take it." She exclaimed, throwing the bun aside. The three of them were seated in a circle around a platter that Reyson had found somewhere. The mysterious staff hung from the rafters, its ribbons used to tie it in place while its soft glow lit the room. Tibarn gave her a dull, resigned look; Reyson was a bit more understanding.

"This is ridiculous. How can you eat this stuff?" She snarled.

"Nailah, I get it. It's only for a few more days, right? Tibarn, what day is it?"

"No clue. If we had anything but how often we sleep to go by, then I might be able to guess, but as is… I dunno, twelve days since we set off?"

"How long did Ike's group take?"

"Around a year." Reyson readily answered, snatching Nailah's bun off the floor and tearing into it with a ferocity that belied his angelic visage. "But they were wandering. Soren said it took only a month or so to get back."

Tibarn blinked. "Aw, shoot. I never talked with Elincia about Soren."

"What happened?" Nailah and Reyson looked at him.

"You guys remember-"

There was a bang, followed by a massive creaking that echoed throughout the entire ship.

"Reyson, what did you do!?" Tibarn tried to snarl while laughing.

"I think… I think we've docked."

It was agreed that they would wait to disembark – logically, if the Archanian ship had arrived any time during the night, it would wait for daylight to dock; therefore it was, most likely, mid-morning. If they waited until night, when work stopped, they should be able to escape unseen.

"What exactly are we trying to do, anyway?" Reyson asked. "We never really decided."

"We need to go home. Take a ship, force the crew to bring us back, and then get rid of them. Easy." Tibarn muttered.

"Got it."

And so they waited, for seventeen hours, until everything went silent, and Tibarn deemed the sun would have fallen.

When they stepped out onto Archanian soil, it was nearing sunrise.

Perhaps they had made a mistake in counting, or maybe Gabriel's soldiers had awoken and begun work far sooner than any of them had assumed. Either way, they had missed almost their entire window of escape. A lone heron, probably the only one left behind to guard the shipyard, had already noticed them, and was flying towards them, a spear drawn.

"Hey! You can't-"

Tibarn swatted him aside with a wing; Nailah heard several cracks as the impact crushed the frail Laguz's rib cage.

"Sorry." Tibarn grunted. "Didn't quite mean to hit him that hard. These guys are even frailer than you, Reyson."

"Thanks." Came the dry reply.

The three of them froze then, as they heard a solemn and unmistakable voice.

"Pitiful wretches." Gabriel scowled from somewhere on the other side of a stack of crates on the dock. "They will not realize their sins even as they drown, will they?"

"No." An incredibly deep voice rumbled. "Indeed, they would push one another down to buoy themselves. The followers of destruction have no qualms about death. With Gurgurant removed from their presence, however, a potentially fatal blow has been struck. The followers of Medeus can no longer touch our world."

"Gurgurant…" Tibarn frowned in the corner of Nailah's sight. "I know that name…"

"Anri preserve us." Gabriel hummed. "If the girl is to find it, then-"

"The heron princess is broken, master. No free will. Indeed, it is as if Princess Fleur has already had-"

And then the pin dropped for Tibarn. Emitting a horrible, blood-curdling screech, he jumped over the boxes while shifting, and flew directly at Gabriel…

…only to be blocked by a massive White Dragon holding a huge shield and battleaxe. The dragon threw Tibarn aside, and he crashed into the ground in a bloody heap.

"My, my." Gabriel said, walking towards Tibarn's prone form. "I had expected that one of the most dangerous fighters of chaos would be more of a challenge than that."

As the heron approached, Tibarn sprung up, claws outstretched, and raked a talon across Gabriel's face. The king of Archania dropped in a heap as crimson blood spurted from his face.

Galdr began to play as Tibarn flew at the dragon.

"No…" Nailah bit her lip and watched Tibarn drop to the ground as a limp body. Two heron dockhands had approached, each glowing in a soft light.

"Get hidden." Nailah hissed to Reyson, and then jumped over the crates, fangs bared. The first heron went down without a sound – the second was headless after a single swipe of her claws.

Panting heavily, in rage more than exertion, Nailah faced down the dragon.

"Interesting." He grumbled. "You deem it necessary to help this bird, yet tolerate murder between your own people?"

Nailah didn't answer, simply glared at the monster. He held her gaze for three seconds, then laughed.

A short trill met Nailah's ears, and she felt herself return to her human form. Spinning around, she saw Gabriel rise unsteadily, half his face covered in blood.

"Aegis," Gabriel instructed, "deal with this incessant little monstrosity."

The dragon growled, and stepped forward. Immediately, Nailah backed away until she was behind Gabriel, using him like a shield.

"What do you propose you can do to me, woman?" He drawled. "You have none of the Hawk King's strength, nor even the least of your powers."

Nailah punched him. As Gabriel went reeling, Nailah stepped on the foot of one of the pieces of cloth she wore, ripping it off slightly above the knee. Then, as Gabriel rose in anger, she wrapped it around his neck.

"Back off," she growled, putting the heron between her and the attacker yet again, "or I kill him."

Gabriel squawked unceremoniously, to which Nailah tightened her grip.

"His death will not save you."

"Maybe not," Nailah actually grinned, "but it's a hell of a lot more satisfying than getting saved would be."

The dragon screamed at that moment, and golden blood poured from his back.

"Run!" Reyson screamed as the dragon got up and yanked the Heron guard's spear from his back. Nailah didn't waste the moment. Sweeping Gabriel's legs out from under him, she let him drop and leapt towards Tibarn, shifting as she went. As the dragon spun wildly, looking for Reyson, she hoisted the unconscious hawk onto her back and bounded off into the unknown world of Archania.


End file.
